Fire Engines Photos

Looks like the first aid hose reel was most likely in the cab, above and behind the rear seat. Might explain why it was fitted with sliding doors?

Added by Rob Johnson on 19 May 2023.

The pump panel would be in the way of a door sliding backwards

Added by Neal Glover on 19 May 2023.

Croydon Fire Brigade book "On the Run" lists this appliance as new in 1939. In the photo above it is seen outside the Old Town Fire Station which opened in 1961, and is still in use by the London Fire Brigade. This appliance was disposed of in 1963.

Added by Christopher Stone on 19 May 2023.

Thanks Christopher: This was a rather advanced design for 1939, when quite a few brigades were still buying Braidwood designs. Does the book give any details of the specification? My guess is that looks like a 500 gpm pump, which was a standard Leyland offering, and the tank was probably 40 or 60 gallons, both of which were being offered back then too. The full width bodywork and cab suggest a six seat cab.

Added by Rob Johnson on 20 May 2023.

Neal: The sliding door opens into the recessed panel which is forward of the pump location, so it can be operated with the door left open if desired ( as in using a hose reel?). Not clear why the brigade wanted a sliding door, though, nor why they wanted the driver and officer to use this rather inconvenient door instead of having their own doors! Some brigades in this era bought enclosed appliances without any doors to fit into old appliance rooms which were originally built for horse drawn apparatus, so perhaps the sliders were specified for the same reason.

But in any case the lockers needed to be able to be opened with the vehicle in its bay, so perhaps the advantages were marginal.

My own home town - Darlington - had a 1904 vintage fire station built for horses which had such narrow bays that in the fifties and sixties modern appliances with conventional hinged cab doors had to be manned sequentially if located in adjoining bays, which was not ideal. It meant the second due unit was inevitably well behind the first one!

Added by Rob Johnson on 12 July 2023.

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